The Lodge in the Forest
by skyequeen
Summary: Dana is fed up of being labelled as the college 'whore' for sleeping with her professor (despite the fact she lost her virginity to him) so when her friend Jules invites her to spend the weekend at Kurt's cousin's cabin in the woods she jumps at the prospect. A whole weekend away from whispering? And pointing? And stupid rumours? She was in.
1. Let's get this party started!

Dana had known Marty for a long time now. Through the quiet period in grade school where the boy kept himself to himself and barely spoke, through high school where he slowly began to come out of his shell, his personality not always accepted, but his confidence that someone would befriend him was endearing - sweet even. He didn't let peer pressure get the better of him and did his own thing, at his own pace. That was before college and smoking pot got in the way. Dana never really talked to him past a few quick greetings in the hallway but she was concerned about his glassy stare and lazy drawn out syllables and failure to care when he got to class 20 mins in and proceeded to fall asleep on the desk. Marty may have been a lot of things, but a stoner wasn't one of them.

Something must have happened. She wasn't sure what - she didn't know a lot about his family, she knew he had at least one younger sister - Sally - and an older brother maybe? She couldn't remember his name though. So it was that at the start of summer vacation, Jules' boyfriend Kurt proposed a trip to his cousin's cabin somewhere in the north east, just inland in the state of Washington and they were all invited. Jules had been going on for ages about Kurt's football friend who was miraculously smart, athletic and cute and she thought him and Dana would be the perfect match. Dana reluctantly agreed to come along, figuring it was something different to do and if it was that bad she could get some studying done for the fall.  
Jules appeared at her apartment mid-morning thurs with a go-to attitude and brand new blonde hair.

"Don't you love it?!" She gushed, sashaying her way round Dana's bedroom. The red-head admitted it was quite a shock.

"You're going to love Holden. He's so cute! And smart too." Dana smiled and nodded awkwardly, wishing there was less pressure to hook up with this one boy. And then Kurt blundered in, in his normal larger than life style.

"Dana." He nodded politely, his hands wrapped around a football as he moved towards Jules restlessly. They had been dating off and on for the whole of freshman year. Dana presumed things were 'on' at the moment and it was affirmed when Kurt transferred the ball to one hand and wrapped both arms possessively around Jules' waist. She hoped she wasn't in the room next to them. They berated her about her studies for a minute, then Dana finished packing and they headed down to the camper and Holden, who smiled and introduced himself. She smiled back - Jules was right, he was cute - and moved to put get things in the van.

It was then that Marty arrived, smoking a huge bong while driving and Dana felt her heart sink. What had he turned into? She barely looked at him - his eyes were cloudy and unseeing anyway - and climbed into the vehicle without uttering a word.

She sat in the back, listening to them banter outside, the morning light filtering in through the window and warming her skin. It was nice to be going somewhere, to be doing something different. She was looking forward to just relaxing and not worrying about school and grades and society bothering her about the whole teacher-student scandal. This way she could think about it in peace and decide what she wanted out of future relationships. Not that it had been a relationship. But it had sure felt like one at the time. Until he'd opened up about his actual relationship with his real-life wife and she had realised what a fool she had been to presume he was available and that if he wasn't, that he would have been man enough to tell her before he'd taken her virginity. Alas.

The red-haired girl sighed and allowed herself to wallow, perhaps for the first time - and only for a few seconds - in the sadness of it, the unfairness of it all, the anger at her pathetic naivety. She was a walking fucking cliche.

Next time she would know better. Next time. At this point she felt a presence at her right shoulder about the same time the camper shuddered into life. Marty had decided to take the seat beside her. His eyes were on her but she didn't meet his gaze. She couldn't bare seeing him so doped up, it made her want to cry.

"Let's blow this joint!" Kurt hollered from the other side.  
"Amen to that, brother." Murmured Marty. He was so close she could feel the heat from his body and the light tickle of his plaid shirt when they turned a corner. The others wooped and cheered and Holden turned up the radio and careened down the road.

Dana closed her eyes, inhaling and exhaling slowly, willing herself to relax. She could do this. She didn't have to get upset about Marty. What did she know anyway? Maybe being stoned all the time was the best way to live. He was probably really happy. She pried an eye open and glanced sideways at the boy. He had shut his eyes and tilted his head back. He'd probably passed out. He looked worn and tired. The bags underneath his eyes were an unhealthy shade of violet and he had clearly not shaved in a few days. His dirty blonde hair was a bit longer but pretty much the same as she remembered it being in school. They had been friends once, but that was a long time ago now.

"How're you doin' Dana?" Dana was startled into a blush. Marty clearly wasn't asleep. He peeled his eyes open and pulled one side of his mouth up in a weary-looking smile. She nodded several times to many.  
"Good, good thanks. How are you? It's - it's been a while since we...spoke." The red-headed girl looked away as she finished the sentence, struggling with her old friend's hazy bloodshot gaze.  
"True that." His eyes swung a pathway to Kurt and Jules engaged in a passionate kiss over the back of the former's chair. Dana felt compelled to repeat herself, tucking her hair self-consciously behind her ear.

"How are you doing?"

"Yeah, yeah pretty good." His blue-green eyes found hers again. He narrowed them.

"You look g...ood. Um, I mean...you look pretty...uh...healthy..." He went pink and stared determinedly at the floor.

"Um..."

"What are you two mumbling about? Has Dana told you about Holden? Don't you think he's cute?!" Dana was positive her face was the same shade as her hair.

"Jules...please don't."

"Okay, I'm sorry, I just wanted to know if you thought he was cute or not." She flounced back around to Kurt who was busy singing loud and off key to the radio. Holden was laughing at him, hopefully unaware of the conversation.

"I think you hurt her feelings." Marty said mildly.  
Dana did smile at this.

"I think she'll survive." They shared a smirk and Dana felt herself relax a little bit.

"Oh I dunno, if she doesn't make it through Kurt may have to give her mouth to mouth. In fact - there you are -." He waved a hand at the couple who were again passionately making out. "It was touch and go for a while." He smiled somewhat desperately at Dana, realising it was a bad joke but ploughing through it anyway. She giggled, because it was kind of funny.

"Kurt is always there to save the day." She agreed. Marty nodded.  
"You know, it seems weird but I never saw them hooking up. Well - maybe at parties and shit. But not...permanently."

Dana watched her friends exchanging saliva thoughtfully.

"I dunno. Kurt was always crushing on Jules. I told him she was a med student and wasn't gonna settle for one man anytime soon but he ignored me."

"And made an honest woman of her."

Dana chuckled.

"It took long enough. I swear she made out with half the guys on campus. No wonder she had a bad reputation."

"She was my first crush."

"Really? When was that?"

"10th grade biology. I was awful. We ended up on the same project and all I could think about was how cute and energetic she was. I couldn't believe she was popular AND smart. It seemed too good to be true."

"What happened?"

"She kissed me over a dissected sheep's heart. It was pure poetry."

Dana's brow creased and a perplexed smile tugged at her lips. Interesting. Dana had mentioned it a few times because she thought it was funny, but hearing it from Marty's point of view was sweet.

"Hmmm...how romantic."

"I thought so. The cold White lights of the lab illuminating our happy, innocent faces, the dead, bloody animal organ lying there on the table between us..." She giggled.

"That's horrible!"  
"Hey! I was young and naive. Besides, don't knock it 'til you've tried it." He winked and Dana made a face, biting back her laughter.

"Oh god! Marty!" She hit him playfully, "That's disgusting."

"What stories are you telling poor Dana? You know she's too fragile to handle our little escapades." Jules butted in teasingly.

"Hey! I can handle it. I'm not made of glass."

"Mentally, Dana, mentally." Marty tapped his temple. She rolled her eyes.

"We were discussing your escapades, Jules."

"Nothing good I hope."

"How many people d'you reckon you've like...kissed?" Piped up Marty.

The blonde girl's eyebrows shot up and she stared off into the distance for a moment, chewing her fingernail. Then she refocussed on them and actually laughed awkwardly.

"I dunno...I think I'd have to make a list." The two others silently judged her and she flushed, flipping her hair back and glaring at them.

"I've kissed a lot of people ok! Marty should know, he was one of them."

"You haven't kissed me." Shot back Dana, them immediately regretted it. Marty burst out laughing.

"Are you offering?" Asked Jules seductively.

"N-No!"

"Have you ever kissed a girl before?" Mortified, Dana shut her mouth and refused to answer. Kurt turned around, curious.

"What's going on back there?"

"Dana wants to know why we haven't made out-."

"Will you-."

"She's too chicken to do it, that's why."

"Look, you're not being fair. She's my friend. It would be REALLY weird."

"Told you. She's too chicken."

"And she's a girl."

"So if she was a guy, you would do it then?"

Dana closed her eyes and prayed for release.

"You guys are awful. I'm going to the bathroom." Ignoring the catcalls and shouts of 'chicken!' the redhead made a swift exit. Sat on the toilet with the lid down for 5 mins then flushed it and made to leave.


	2. You feeling strong?

Marty was outside, clearly waiting to go in. Standing, they were almost at eye-level. His eyes were very dark green underneath the curtain of blonde hair.

"Hey." He said, flashing a one-sided grin.

"Hey." There wasn't much room in the corridor between the bathroom and the shower. They were very close together and Marty had to squeeze out of the way so she could get out.

"Thanks." Dana made her way back to her seat and joined the conversation which had somehow branched into sex stories, which it often did. Since she only had one, she stared at the passing shrubbery, trying to ignore them.

"I heard you hooked up with the prof, Dana." The red-haired girl pointedly pretended to be vividly interested in the blurry landscape whizzing by. She wasn't getting into this until she had consumed at least two bottles of cheap wine.

"Dana?"

"Leave her be, Kurt, she doesn't want to talk about it." Came Jules' quiet but authoritative rebuke.

"The whole campus is talking about it!" Pause, probably accompanied by daggers from his girlfriend. "Fine."

"I haven't heard about it." Marty's voice was louder from her right.

"That's because you live in a pot haze, Marty." Reprimanded the blonde. He didn't reply to that.

Dana knew her face must be an unhappy mask because she had always been terrible at hiding her emotions.

"What happened?" Marty carried on.

"Marty! She's right there."

"I know that, I just..." He trailed off uncomfortably and Dana felt his eyes on her but she didn't let herself give in. Yes she would almost certainly talk about it - extensively with crying and cursing and fully-clothed showers - but not now.

The first half of the journey was relaxed. Kurt took some of the driving to give Holden a rest and the boy was immediately interrogated by Jules - where was he from? Why did he transfer? Did he have any skeletons in his closet? Dana had known Jules for long enough to be embarrassed for her, not because of her. The girl was all good intentions but no thought.

She acted out of instinct - what you saw was what you got. Holden seemed slightly taken aback but took it all in his stride which, out of anything she'd seen him do, made Dana respect him. After Jules grilled him on his entire study plan and his history with the team, Dana decided it was time to step in.

"Jules, this isn't a homicide case, why don't you stop with the backstory." The blonde bit back whatever question she was going to ask next and smiled bashfully.

"I was just being friendly!"

"It's ok, really," Holden consoled her, "I don't mind." He had a cute smile, and Dana felt herself warming to his all-round good guy act. Next to her, Marty was actually asleep this time. His breathing was soft and regular, tiny snores erupting every once in a while. They reached a gas station but Dana didn't have the heart to wake him. The bags underneath his eyes said he needed the rest. Holden hovered half a metre away as she leafed through some magazines obliviously.

"Hey," he began awkwardly, but the red-haired girl was engrossed in the journal so he had to try again. He said her name and she looked up. She had such huge blue eyes.

"What - what are you studying? I think Jules said but..."

"Art. And sociology. And art history. What about you?"

"Politics, economics and business."

"Wow, that's quite a lineup!"

"I guess..."

"How do you know Kurt?"

"Football. I was the new guy and we hit it off pretty much straight away."

Dana nodded understandingly just as Marty came stumbling sleepily into the store, hair sticking up in random places where he'd ran his hand through it. His eyes focussed on Dana and Holden and he waved a vague hand.

"Caffeine. Need caffeine." He stated hoarsely and shuffled off in the direction of the fridge. Dana laughed.

"Marty, what a character."

"Quite. Driving with a bong was pretty impressive."

"Yeah, I guess. Kinda stupid though." They shared a knowing smile before they were cannonballed by Kurt and Jules, loaded with candy, chips and soda galore.

"Let's roll guys! Marty, get that sweet ass over here."

"My sweet ass will be with you in two minutes!"

"Well hurry it up, we're leaving!"

The small blonde man trundled past, arms cradling a selection of iced coffees, muttering to himself about 'having a little patience.'

"Do you need some help there, Marty?"

Dana reached out to grab some of the more precarious-looking bottles from the pile and the blonde's mouth turned up at the corners gratefully.

"Thanks Dana."

"No problem!" She followed him to checkout and helped him deposit the drinks on the counter.

Marty dumped a fist full of change next to them.

"Three cartons of your cheapest cigarettes, my good lady."

The cashier looked a little confused at Marty's way of talking but complied to his request. Dana guessed she was used to it, but he did sound like he was from medieval Britain sometimes. Back in the camper, the party was back on and Jules wanted to sit next to Dana, who had offered to drive the next bit. Marty was forced to sit behind Jules while Holden and Kurt talked football at the table.

"Sooo...you and Holden were getting pretty cosy in there." The blonde began conspiratorially after they had been driving for a few minutes. Dana sighed. Why did Jules always make such a big deal of things?

"We were just talking, Jules."

"Yeah, but you like him, right?"

"Look, I dunno. I'm not sure I'm ready for whatever you think...this is."

"So it's a thing?!"

"Yes...no! Jules, do you think you leave me to make up my own mind, if that's at all possible?" Jules let out her breath explosively and sat back dramatically in her seat.

"I'm just trying to help, Dana. After that whole professor blah blah whatever, you really need to, like, move on already!"

"Stop trying to force me into it! It was a...bad time for me, ok? I'll get there at my own pace."

"Ok, ok, I'm done. Whatever happens from now on is all down to you."

"Thanks."

"That's ok. I'm sorry I'm so pushy sometimes. I just want you to be happy with hot Holden!" She winked delightedly and Dana rolled her eyes. It was a bit of a roller-coaster ride being friends with Jules, but she always had the best intentions.

"I'll get there, Jules. At least give me some alcohol first!"

"Yes! This is going to be so much fun." Switching her gaze back and forth between Jules and the road, Dana saw a look that could only be described as 'sneaky' pass across her friend's face. Oh dear.

"Oh no. I don't like that look. What are you planning?"

"You know better than to ask me that, Dana."

"Yeah, but Jules-."

"Nope."

"But-."

"Na-ah."

"Y-you just said-."

"Stop. I have an idea. And it might just work."

Dana sighed, her heart sagging in her chest.

"Oh god. Don't you dare...dare me to make out with him. It's not gonna happen."

Jules laughed loudly.

"That's not what I was thinking, but that would be really funny."

Dana groaned.

"I'm just gonna shut up, cause clearly I can't talk without giving you ideas."

The red-haired girl spent the rest of the journey not mentioning Holden or Professor Manning or anything to do with men in general. Marty offered to drive, but, unconvinced of his sobriety, Dana declined. He looked hurt, but she didn't think too much about it because it was still her choice and if he was too stoned to drive, then she would be putting them all in danger if she let him.

They reached the cabin sometime around 10 in the evening. Dana was half tempted to go straight to bed after five hours of driving and, to be honest, everyone seemed quite keen on having alone time. Ten hours in an enclosed space together was somewhat intense.


	3. We work with what we have

She said goodnight, gathered her stuff from the van and headed to her room which was coincidentally next to Holden's. Oh Jules, she just couldn't leave things alone could she? Poor Marty. He was stuck next to the happy couple. He wouldn't get much sleep tonight. Unpacking her belongings methodically, Dana placed her night stuff on the bed. Looking for her toothbrush and absently brushing her hair at the same time she came across a pack of earplugs she'd packed in case of emergencies. Aha! She should give them to Marty, it might help him sleep.  
The red head changed into some corridor- appropriate pjs, which weren't really much more than a t-shirt and track pants, grabbed her towel and wash-bag and the earplugs and headed to the bathroom. Someone was in it already, or rather two someones. She could hear the giggling and muffled thumping of various body parts hitting the walls of the shower cubicle. Great. She rolled her eyes and made a u-turn back to Marty's room, knocking on the door. There was no answer. She knocked again.

"Marty?" Still no answer. Maybe he had gone to bed already. She turned to go when the door opened and Holden poked his head out.

"Oh! Holden! I'm sorry, I thought this was Marty's room. Sorry to bother you!"

"No problem, is everything ok?" He pulled the door a little wider, revealing his very naked torso. A very naked, very attractively muscled torso. Dana felt herself flush and opened her mouth to give an explanation but nothing came out. Wow. Okay. Words would be really handy right now.  
Holden was fighting a smile, amusement leaking into his dark blue eyes.

"Are you ok?"

Dana ran a hand helplessly through her hair and smiled, eyes earnestly apologising to replace the lack of actual words.

"Yeah, yeah. Do you know where...?"

Holden allowed a grin to get out this time and pointed down the corridor to the door next to Kurt and Jules'. God, you'd think she'd be capable of navigating her way around four rooms. She nodded at Holden, thanked him with a thumbs up and walked quickly to Marty's door, knocking a little frantically.

A few seconds passed, so she knocked again and this time there was a scuffle of footsteps and Marty eased the door open, his hair haphazardly over his face, the bags more pronounced than ever in the dull lights of the cabin. He looked exhausted. She immediately felt bad and began apologising before she could even explain why she was there.

Marty's eyebrows came together and he squinted at her, eventually pulling his hair out of his face so he could focus on her. She was so adorable with her curling auburn hair and mesmerising blue eyes, towel thrown over one shoulder, various girl-implements clutched in her pale hands as she brandished something at him. It suddenly occurred to him he should focus on what she was saying. Something about earplugs and sleeping. Oh yeah, he was next to Kurt and Jules. Dana had a good point.

"Earplugs." He echoed after she had finished apologising profusely and he could reply. He took the small packet she was waving like a sparkler in the air around his chin.

"That's so very awesome of you, my ears will thank you tomorrow. Also my mental state may stay...relatively intact. Thanks, Dana."

"No worries!"

"G'night. Sleep well."

"Goodnight Marty."

Dana breathed a sigh of relief when he closed the door. She was such a klutz sometimes, it was a wonder people didn't lose their patience more often with her rambling and appalling conversation making. She readjusted her towel and went back to her room to wait for the shower. She was petty tired, she could feel her muscles begging her to lie down but she sat on the end of the bed instead and watched the corridor for signs of Jules and Kurt stumbling back to their room.

Ten minutes passed and Dana began to worry she was going to pass out on the bed so she got up and joined the two man queue outside the bathroom. Or one man, really, as Marty was asleep, sat sprawled against the wall.

"Good company you got there." She said jokingly. Holden, who was clearly determined not to wear a shirt, was leaning casually against the plaster, towel slung over one stupidly perfect shoulder. A grin spread across his face.

"Yeah I know."

"Are those guys still in there?"

"Yeah..."

"Shouldn't we ask them to...get a move on?"

"I guess..." They both looked at the closed door then back at each other. It wasn't worth the effort really. God only knows what they were doing in there. Dana debated internally for a moment, coming to the conclusion that Jules and Kurt really were being selfish by hogging the only bathroom and knocked on the door.

"Jules? Kurt?" No answer. Just a lot of giggling to the baseline of running water. She knocked again, louder.

"Jules? Are you guys alive in there?" Still nothing. Then suddenly Marty appeared next to her. He took no quarter with his knocking and rapped mercilessly, following this with:

"Guys! Guys! Some other people would like to use the bathroom too, you know! We want to get clean and you only want to get dirty! You have a bed for all that..." His eyes met Dana's and he twisted his mouth into an bashful one-sided smile, "Jazz..." He finished awkwardly. There was some banging of doors and squeaking of bare feet on tiles and Jules came tumbling out, looking surprisingly clean if a little bit rosy-cheeked.

"Alright, alright, there's no need to get your panties in a twist!" She proclaimed, almost falling into Marty, who stepped back reflexively about the same time his hands came out to stop her.

"Apart from you, Marty, you definitely need your panties twisted juuust a little bit." She leered into his personal space, all mussed blonde hair and fiery blue eyes. Marty's expression was some sort of combination of surprised and confused as hell. Dana reached over to usher her away just as Kurt blundered out of the bathroom door and scooped Jules, shrieking like a chimpanzee, into his arms and down the corridor.

"I'm so happy you gave me those earplugs." Uttered Marty fervently, as the screaming continued into the bedroom.

"Me too." Dana agreed. "Who...was next in line for the bathroom?"

"You. Go." Said the blonde, pushing her into the shower stall affectionately.

"Hey! No way! I was last in the queue-."

Marty shut the door in her face, chuckling to himself when she pushed feebly to get it open.  
"You guys are jerks!" She shouted through the wood with one last shove at the door.

They were both laughing now so she gave up, locked the door and pulled off her pjs angrily. Why did they always have to be so macho about this shit, they were here first fair and square! Fine, well she was going to be quick. She turned on the water, washed her hair and body in record time, wrapped the towel snugly around her and stalked out to both boys stood chatting in the corridor.  
"I'm done." She said shortly, turned and practically fell into bed - barely having the energy to drag her pjs back on before she felt sleep overcome her.

The next morning came bright and early - thankfully quite warm and sunny despite the colder climate. Dana meandered into the kitchen, feeling surprisingly well-rested and content as she filled the kettle.  
"Dana!"

"Morning Marty! Coffee?"

"Is that the crappy instant kind that tastes like regurgitated dog testicles?"

She nodded.

"Pour me a cup."

She laughed and got out another mug from the cupboard.

"Sugar? Milk?"

He nodded, thumbs up.

"Thank you very much, my good friend."

Something suddenly occurred to the red-head as she filled the cups, watching Marty stare intently out of the window, the sunlight filtering through onto his figure, allowing her to notice his freshly shaven face and more clean and ordered- looking hair which looked more artfully messy than unkempt.

"Marty, what colour are your eyes? I can't figure it out." Marty was jerked out of his reverie as this random question and he turned to her, surprised.

"My eyes? Uh..." He pushed at his hair self-consciously, avoiding her gaze as the tops of her cheekbones coloured slightly and she hurriedly made up the coffee and shoved it at him.  
"I guess they're...green? Blue? Kind of blue-y green?" He looked up to meet her eyes, knowing she was probably going to study them now. Hers were just blue. No random weird colours there. She smiled, her cheeks dimpling.

"They look more green to me."

At this point Jules appeared in a t-shirt and nothing else, hair attractively tousled, eyes shining. You didn't have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out what she had been doing.

"Morning guys!"

They chorused greetings back to her and sat around the table to plan their day. Basically they decided to go to the lake for a bit then start partying. It was a pretty foolproof plan. They all changed into their costumes and grabbed a cooler and headed down.

Marty refused point-blank to swim, donning a long-sleeved top and jeans and sitting on the pier with his feet in the water, joint in one hand, beer in the other. Kurt wasn't going to be outdone, however, and tried to pull him in several times, eventually succeeding - they managed to drag his shirt off with him protesting loudly and trying to hold his joint above the water. Everyone was in hysterics. Dana swam over and grabbed the joint off him, feeling silly and childish, and put it to her lips, watching a look of shock pass over his face as she took a long drag, kicking with her legs to keep her head above water.

"Smoke?" She asked innocently, and he narrowed his eyes at her, trying to dislodge Kurt and plough through the water with his beer clutched in one hand. She moved away tauntingly and he eventually stopped to down the beer. Dropping the bottle, he swam determinedly after her and Dana realised she was in trouble.

"Hey - hey - aaaah!" Marty water-tackled her, taking her by the wrist and wrestling the joint off her as she attempted feebly to kick him away. The joint didn't survive. The anger in the blonde's eyes soon dissolved into laughter as he held up the mushy joint and Dana joined in, splashing him playfully. He spluttered indignantly and grabbed her ankles, pulling her under as she screamed. They fought for a few minutes, then Marty called a ceasefire and retreated, shouting abuse at them all the way to the pier. There, he pulled himself onto the ledge, swore at Kurt and opened another beer, downing it in record time.

"You're all unfeeling, selfish, primitive sons of bitches you know that?!" With that he lay back in the sun.


	4. Good work, zombie arm

Holden came up behind Dana and pushed her under. Taken by surprise, she accidentally elbowed him in the face, splitting his lip.  
"Ah!" He cursed. Dana clapped her hands to her mouth in horror.  
"Oh my god! Holden I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! Are you ok?!" He put his hand over his face and it came away bloody, but he was grinning.  
"Don't worry about it Dana, I've had worse." Her eyes looked exceptionally blue against her wet hair. She looked so guilty he thought it was adorable and took the opportunity to plant a kiss on her pale cheek.  
"Payback."  
She smiled shyly, face reddening and turned in the water, swimming to the side to unearth another beer from the cooler. There she hoisted herself up, showering a disgruntled Marty with lake water in the process.  
"Why are you getting me wet again?" He complained mildly, then giggled for no apparent reason. He was still shirtless and damp; his hair drying into it's familiar bedraggled mess. A recently-lit spliff was clutched in long fingers and his eyes were hazy.  
"Oh sshh." Dana reprimanded lightly, smiling at him.  
"Don't ssshhhh me, woman, I am man therefore I am...superior..." He snorted to himself again. Dana rolled her eyes. There was no talking to him when he was like this.  
"You're such a dick when you're high."  
"I am...not! Dana, you lie..."  
"Marty, you were just a sexist prick."  
He inhaled dramatically.  
"Ha ha, I was joking..."  
"Well, it wasn't funny." She left her beer on the ledge and lowered herself fluidly back into the water.  
"Dana. Dana! I'm sorry I'm -." The redhead swiped the beer and paddled backwards, somehow managing not to look at him as she did it.  
"Really baked..." He finished off to himself, flopping back on the pier defeated. He took a long drag of his joint and grinned dreamily.  
"Well if you aren't the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." He told the sky.  
"You're - you're blue like...daisies." He murmured blissfully.

The evening saw the five young adults partying hard in their cabin in the woods. Several bottles of wine were scattered across the table in various stages of consumption. Beer cans and bottles alike were piled in creative-looking sculptures on the floor. Chips and candy littered the sofas, wet patches where liquids had been spilled put the final touches to the background.  
Now for the occupants. Kurt was sat on one armchair with Jules pulled across his lap. Marty was sprawled in the other one while Dana and Holden were sat awkwardly next to each other on the sofa. Marty dared Jules to make out with a stuffed wolf's head, then they wandered around the basement for a bit. Finally Jules and Kurt retired to their room for some 'alone time' and Dana, Holden and Marty were left to their own devices.  
Holden had been thinking about kissing Dana all night. The more drunk he became, the better the idea seemed. She hadn't said anything about him kissing her at the lake and she was single, which was always a good start. He'd heard rumours of a sucky situation with a professor but he wasn't expecting any more than a kiss, if that was all she was ready for. He wasn't a bad guy - he would go as far as the girl wanted and no more. She was in control. He watched her as she stared blankly at the table, fingers wrapped around a quarter bottle of rose. She must have felt him looking at her because she looked up and smiled sweetly, her eyes so very large and blue, lighting up. This was the moment. And he leaned in slowly. The smile faded, and a look of confusion pulled her lips into a tight line. He put his hand out to touch her cheek, to tell her he wanted this, but she turned her face away, shutting him off, her eyes downcast and her body lines rigid with misery. Holden brought his hand back quickly and bit his lip in consternation.  
"I - I'm sorry, I just thought..."  
He must have really misread all the signs. This girl didn't want him. He sat back against the sofa cushions as she got to her feet, moved her hair distractedly back from her face with a trembling hand, muttering:  
"I'm just gonna...g-g-go to the bathroom." And tottering unsteadily out of the room. Holden sat for a moment longer, then headed to bed so he could rest his addled, drunken mind. Marty followed the boy's progress with his glazed eyes. Drinking and smoking was such a bad idea sometimes. He couldn't get his brain to just...do things. He needed little neon arrows to get him from a to b. Puppet strings to make his limbs respond in the appropriate order at the appropriate times. On that thought, he decided to have a nap, and woke up 30 mins later fuzzy and disorientated and somewhat more sober. There was no-one there. Where had everybody gone? Had they all gone to bed? He really needed to empty his bladder. Stumbling over to the bathroom, he threw open the door to a boatload of steam and the drumming noise of water on the tiles.  
"Hello?" No answer. He tried again.  
"Hellooo?" He really needed to pee. He sorted himself out, rinsed his hands and went over to cautiously knock on the shower door, before realising it was very slightly ajar.  
"Hello?" He very slowly pushed it open, and was greeted by a torrent of spray. He put his hand out to protect his eyes and squinted past it to see if there was anyone there. There was. It was Dana. And she was clearly upset, soaking wet and curled up with her arms around her knees as the shower rained down on her. The wine bottle stood empty next to her left foot. Marty didn't know what to do. He approached her carefully, as though she was a wounded bird, and knelt down in the shower stream, putting his hand gently on her shoulder as he felt the warm water soak through his clothes, skin, run down his face into his eyes, which he cleared away frustratedly with his free arm.  
"Dana." He shook her softly, "Dana. I think it's time to stop now."  
"Wha - what are you -?" She tried to open her eyes, but water poured in so she closed them again.  
"Why are you-?" Her hand came up to shield her face as she tried to figure out who had disturbed her. Here she was trying to wallow in her pain but nope - someone had to come in and crash the party. God she was so...angry! She pushed the hand away but it two came back, one on either shoulder and there was a face close to hers enunciating very calm, practical advice but she was upset and furious and everything that had happened with Manning and the school and with Holden came flooding back and she wrenched the arms off of her, shouting at him to leave her alone but he wouldn't and she began to weep again.  
"Dana. Dana. Please don't cry. You have to get up now. You - you really can't stay in the shower forever. I'm sorry." He was so fucking calm and rational. Marty was never any of these things. And for some reason this pissed her off mightily and she slapped him messily across the face, water and all. Then she shook her finger at him with every word.  
"You leave me alone Martin Mikalski. I don't want you in my life, d'you hear me?" Through the haze of steam she saw shock colour his funny coloured eyes and pain lance through them but she was too tired, too angry and drunk to care. She just wanted peace and quiet.  
Marty stood slowly and squelched out of the cubicle, not really sure how to take this new development in their friendship. He was dripping - literally sopping wet from head to toe - his cheek was stinging where she had hit him. For a small girl she had some swing on her. He turned doggedly in his door, then stopped short, realising he still didn't want Dana to be alone, crying in the shower and that even if she didn't want him she would have someone take care of her - someone she couldn't refuse. He turned heavily and stomped up to Jules' bedroom, banging very loudly and incessantly on the wood until she opened it, eyes barely open, wearing a huge t-shirt that came down to her knees.  
"What the holy fuck is going on, Marty? It's 3 am!"  
He met her gaze levelly and said very distinctly so she couldn't possibly misunderstand him:  
"Dana is sat in the shower, crying her eyes out. Please, please can you...get her to bed. Please. I know she'll listen to you. And I'm...sorry...for waking you." He waved vaguely and left the rest up to her. They were best friends, he knew she would help Dana. Man, he was tired...and so cold, he should probably...change into some dry clothes or something. Marty plodded into his room, locked the door behind him and stared at the unmade bed unseeingly for a good 5 minutes before he got himself into gear and fumbled around, stripping off his wet clothes and drying himself half-heartedly before pulling on new sweatpants and a shirt and depositing himself into bed, barely tugging the duvet around him before he fell asleep, glad of the sweet oblivion.

Dana woke up the morning after with a very sore head and absolutely no recollection of the events of the previous night. She stumbled into the bathroom and threw herself headlong into the toilet before vomiting copiously into the bowl. Oh dear god. She thought she might die. Clinging onto the rim she closed her eyes and willed her stomach to stop churning. What had she drank last night?! Oh god. She was gonna hurl again. After what seemed like the billionth attempt to empty her insides she managed to drag herself back to bed and fell into an uneasy sleep, full of as much tap water as she could gulp down in one sitting.


	5. Really?

After a few hours had passed by Dana finally woke up and managed to pull herself into a sitting position and lever the tumbler of water on her bedside table into her lap miserably. Oh man. This was why drinking was a bad idea. Why did she never remember this!  
She felt sick and hot, her mouth dry and her eyelids sticky with sleep and old makeup. She couldn't imagine what she looked like. As long as Holden didn't...oh my god...Holden! Last night! What happened?  
She remembered a kiss, but to quite honest she couldn't put a name to the face. The redhead allowed herself a small sip of water, praying for it to stay down. She hadn't...she hoped she hadn't done anything stupid. Something she might regret. She did remember being in the shower and being really upset. And then waking up alone in her own bed. That had to be a good sign...right? She willed herself to swallow down more water. What time was it? Was everyone up or was it only her that'd gotten crazy drunk? How embarrassing...She rubbed frustratedly at her aching temple and willed herself into next week. Away from alcohol and deep into her books. She didn't think it was possible to want to be back at college but right now she would give anything to be in her dorm room and not waiting for...yep, Jules to walk in. The blonde - it was still weird to think of her as one - was supporting a large glass of water and some pills.  
"Dana! I didn't think you would EVER wake UP!"  
"Me either." Croaked the redhead, then pressed a hand to her mouth in shock, "Oh my god. I sound like an 80 year old man!"  
"Think of it as sexy-gravelly not...gross gravell-look, what happened last night with you Dana?"  
Dana stared at her friend, blue eyes dazed and uncomprehending.  
Jules sighed and dropped the pills onto her palm.  
"Take these." Dana obeyed without question.  
"How come you aren't like...dying."  
"Marty."  
"Huh?"  
"He made me get YOU out of the shower at 3 am and put you to bed."  
Dana groaned, hands over her face.  
"I'm so sorry." She said after a moment, spreading her fingers and peering at Jules through the gaps, then lowering them onto her lap, "I don't - remember what happened. Well, entirely..." Her lip caught between her teeth and she grimaced at Jules, who so far hadn't said anything encouraging like she'd hoped.  
"I was upset," she carried on quietly, "I was..." she tried to pinpoint certain moments in her cloudy memory of the night, "Sat with you guys...someone kissed me, I think - I don't remember who - and I went and sat in the shower for some...reason...and then I woke up in my bed."  
Jules looked like she was having an internal debate, her lips pursed, brow furrowed in concentration. Dana finally snapped.  
"Oh for pity's sake Jules just... tell me what I did!"  
"I don't know! Marty hammered on my door at 3 o'clock this morning saying I had to get you out of the shower. That you were upset or something. He looked pretty shaken like something had happened between you..."  
Dana's mouth dropped open as the realisation dawned.  
"Wait...are you saying I kissed MARTY?"  
Jules threw up her hands.  
"I dunno! He was pretty bummed out about something. And come to think of it, he does like you an awful lot."  
"B-but it's Marty, I mean-."  
"I know that Dana but he's still a guy. Maybe you gave him the wrong impression. Why else were you guys in the shower together?"

Dana gulped down some more water desperately, as though this might trigger the memories to magically come back to her. The kiss was worrying. Marty? Really? I mean, out of everyone he was the least likely candidate for her...affections. Wasn't he? Now that she thought about it, she did remember Marty being with her last night. Scrunching her eyes she could see his face, blurry but concerned and...wet? Oh yeah. The shower. So Marty had come to make sure she was ok - that made sense. She had been upset...she remembered a wine bottle, drinking it under the warm spray. She remembered being angry. Irrationally so. Poor Marty. He probably thought she was insane.  
And there was him trying to do the right thing.  
But she didn't remember kissing him. At least, not in the shower...  
"Dana. Are you alright?"  
The red haired girl opened her eyes reluctantly and frowned at her friend.  
"Just trying to...remember. I think Marty came to check on me and I pushed him away. That must have been when he decided to wake you. I feel terrible, Jules, he must think I'm crazy."  
Jules put her hand on Dana's shoulder firmly.  
"Dana, you were upset. And it's Marty we're talking about here. He's probably forgotten all about it." The blonde mimed smoking a spliff complete with some dramatic fluttering her eyelashes in mock ecstasy. Dana giggled weakly.  
"I hope you're right."  
Jules grinned and stood.  
"Ready to join the living?" Dana nodded sheepishly and slowly heaved herself out of bed, cringing at the mess of wet clothes under her bare feet as she tottered to her closet for a clean towel and found, to her embarrassment, that she used them to clean up her own vomit which was both resourceful and...disgusting. She looked up but Jules had left. She couldn't walk out there looking like death warmed up. Shame she didn't have a choice. Checking her pyjama pants and t for any unfortunate stains she was making some sort of attempt to order her hair and wishing that she had brushed her teeth when there was a knock on the door. Feeling her stomach somersault she had a brief moment of panic when Marty said on the other side.  
"Dana...open up."  
Then she felt white-hot with shock and froze, a million and one replies coming to mind but nothing seemed appropriate for something she didn't entirely remember happening. There was a deadly silence. The red head heard the man shuffle around, sigh. Call her name tentatively again. This wasn't fair, she had to talk to him. She breathed in and out slowly and padded to the door, opening it even as her heart was thundering. The boy looked dishevelled and tired, face pale and eyes bloodshot but clear. No pot this morning then. When his eyes met Dana's he smiled half-heartedly.  
"Hey..." Dana began, trailing off when she couldn't find the right words, "About last night...I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to...y'know...I was upset about..." Her words dried up but her eyes pleaded with him, huge blue and slightly swollen from crying.  
Marty was immediately filled with remorse and any anger he felt towards her began to fade.  
"Dana, it's ok..." He had an urge to hug her but fought it with a customary arm pat, "It's all...in the past." He wiggled his fingers to represent the dissipation of the event and grinned, trying to cheer her up. Dana felt relief at his words even though she didn't want to. Then her mouth decided to carry on of its own free will, as she clutched his shirt sleeve determinedly.  
"It's not that I don't like you Marty," the blonde blinked, and put out a hand to interrupt but she carried on, "It's just...I'm dealing with a lot of stuff right now. I-I'm not ready to jump into anything. Well, not yet anyway." She smiled lopsidedly and Marty just stared at her, not quite sure what he'd just witnessed. He let out a surprised bark of laughter and shook her elbow to reassure her.  
"That's...absolutely...fine?" Smile like you mean it.  
"Thanks Marty." She swayed on the spot looking so relieved she was almost catatonic. Damn her expressive eyes. She almost looked like she wanted to...no, that wasn't possible. Marty stood, hand on her arm, feeling the feverish warmth of her skin through her t-shirt, feeling oddly like they were on the brink of something. Like something was going to happen. Then Dana appeared to re-focus, her hand dropping from his shirt to tuck her hair behind her ear as she looked at the ground and back up to his face. He pulled his own hand back and opened his mouth to depart but she spoke instead, worrying at her lip in a very...distracting way. Wait. What was wrong with him?!  
"Um...I'm really sorry I bother you like this but uh...do you have a towel I could borrow, I uh...I don't have one that's uh...clean." She flushed scarlet. It took him a moment to process the request and he nodded one too many times.  
"Of course," he swept his arm towards his room, "After you my lady."


	6. I love you, but you're really high

After an awkward visit to Marty's room to borrow a towel, Dana flew to the bathroom to shower. Again. She hurriedly washed herself, feeling much better when she could put on some clean clothes and join the others without appearing like a total train wreck. She rinsed her own towels as best she could in the bathroom then gave them a spray and hung them out of her window to dry. Only then did she take a deep breath and wander out to the kitchen and fix herself a large glass of water. Holden was sat at the small table, nursing a black coffee. He smiled and nodded at her.

"Dana. Glad you're feeling better."

She let out a laugh in a rush.

"Thanks. How are you feeling?"

"Good. Good." His eyes were warm and kind and Dana felt herself looking away to avoid his gaze.

"I'm really embarrassed," she confided softly, "I can't remember half of what happened last night." She bit her lip.

"Apparently I was a mess. I'm sorry if you had to deal with...any of that."

Holden didn't react. He felt guilty that she clearly didn't remember the almost-kiss, but he was too selfish to bring it up now. It would just embarrass both of them and she would probably think he was some sort of creep who took advantage of drunk girls. Nothing had happened. And he was cool with that.

Damn she was still cute though. All sincere with her damp hair clutching a huge tumbler of water.

He laughed at himself. Eventually he would stop hitting on girls who were emotionally unavailable.

"That's ok Dana. You seemed fine to me. I left you with Marty I think - and he was sleeping so I'm sure you didn't cause too many problems!"

Dana's cheeks lost all colour then suddenly bloomed bright red. She laughed nervously and scooped her hair behind her ear.

"That's good to know."

Kurt's head appeared around the doorframe.

"Heads up guys, heading to the lake in 2 minutes. Nice of you to join us Dana." He winked conspiratorially and vanished with a shit eating grin on his handsome face. Dana rolled her eyes, sighed and poured her water into the sink, placing the empty glass on the side and heading to her room to grab her bikini and Marty's towel - which although being damp was at least cleaner than hers. She hoped he didn't mind, she'd already offered to wash it when they got back to the flat.

Marty was having what he could only describe as an 'existential crisis.' Dana clearly didn't remember that she'd hit him - pretty damn hard he might add - across the face and for some reason thought that they'd had some sort of moment. That something had happened between them. And now he couldn't get the idea out of his head. The thought that Dana...liked him. Or at least hadn't dismissed him completely because of his...stoner ways. He knew he smoked too much but after his brother had left home and his father had started sleeping around (yes he knew, he wasn't an idiot) he'd just kind of felt a need to escape and smoking just...lessened the load. Helped him forget his troubles, even for a brief time. Everyone had their own ways of dealing. This was his. His parents' marriage was breaking down and he felt guilty because he just wanted it to end. Marty dug in his pocket for a normal cigarette, some way behind the others on the forest track to the lake and thought about his options as he smoked. Dana was amazing, he'd always known that - with her stupidly blue eyes and her cute smile and her really cool drawings he saw her doodle in lectures when she thought no one was looking. He remembered seeing her for the first time since grade school, her hair a newly-coloured shade of red and Jules reintroducing them, Dana laughing and saying she actually couldn't remember the last time they saw each other. He'd thought about it for a second - a second - then realised she would never go for him and he wouldn't have a chance even in the deepest and darkest circles of hell. Marty took a last drag, flicked his ash to the side and squished the butt into the pine needles of the forest floor. But now...what...had happened? Dana thought they'd made out or something, instead of her making out with Holden like Jules and Kurt had planned...like what the hell! How had he gotten himself into this situation? How did he get himself further into it...oh god the innuendoes. He groaned and rubbed at his tired eyes. He wasn't ready for this but he probably wouldn't have another chance. Ever.

"Marty!" Kurt thundered over to him, so loud Marty thought the fish might be able to hear him coming on the other side of the lake. Possibly the entire animal population had been woken from their slumber.

"You slowpoke! What the hell are you doing back here? We thought you'd gotten lost man!" He bodily picked the smaller man up and ran along the path until the lake came into view and Marty began to struggle feebly and make half-assed noises of protest.

"Kurt you unfeeling interrupter of my inner peace!"

"Suck it blondie." Kurt deposited his friend onto the rickety wooden pier and with a whoop launched himself in after his girlfriend who screamed and back paddled away, setting Holden and Dana off into a fit of giggling. Marty shuffled to the edge of the dock and slung his legs over the edge, allowing his feet to dangle in the cool water as he grumbled to himself and began to prepare a joint, deciding the best way out of this was to escape on a reefer fuelled train to bliss. He was half way through his first joint when Dana surfaced to his right like some sort of otherworldly mermaid and he leaned back in delayed shock, the red head laughing at him.

"Come on Marty, you're missing all the fun. You know Kurt'll just drag you in eventually..."

"She's right!" Came Kurt's disembodied affirmation.

Marty met Dana's blue eyed gaze with his own glassy stare and a look of acute disappointment flashed across her face before she appeared to force it down and plaster a smile there instead.

"It's better to come in of your own free will than be thrown in." Marty felt his brow furrow as he searched for something - anything - to say to her. After a few minutes she shook her head and turned to swim back to the others. He took a deep lungful of the pot and thought about how beautiful she was for a moment before letting the joint drop into the water, pulling off his shirt and t and tumbling into the water with an ungraceful flail of limbs, bitching and whining all the way. The water was motherfucking freezing.

"It's like the 10th circle of hell in here." He stated, causing Jules to splash him playfully.

"Don't be such a pussy Mikalski." Said Kurt affectionately then Jules said suddenly.

"I propose a game."

"What kind of game, Jules."

"Dare-tag." There was a communal groan and Dana shook her head despairingly.

"Jules, we're in a lake, what exactly are we gonna dare people to do? Swim?"

"She's got a point." Agreed Holden. Marty was fervently against this too. If anyone knew about him and Dana it was Jules and there was no way he was gonna be dared into kissing her. He was gonna do that in his own damn time and preferably with mutual desire on both sides.

"Fine! Be boring!" The blonde pouted, "Can we at least play normal tag?"

Kurt launched himself at Holden before anyone could agree and the friends engaged in a raucous game until it was generally decided they should go back to the cabin and finish off the alcohol. So they didn't have to take it home - of course.


End file.
